Multi-roll liner-wound tape dispenser



May l0 1955 4. A. PQLsTER ETAL .2,708,076

MULTI-Rom. LINER-wouw TAPE DISPENSER Filed 061:. 28, 1953 r f- 3291 F/iZ MULTI-RLL LINER-WUND TAPE lDllSl-ENSER .lohn A. Polster, Roseville,Minn., Walter S. Aldrich, Kiel, Wis., and Lee M. Berlin, St. Paul,Minn., assigner-s to Minnesota Mining d.: Manufacturing Company, St.Paul, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application ctober 28, 1953,Serial No. 388,856

2 Claims. (Cl. 242-554) The present invention relates to dispensers fornormally tacky pressure-sensitive adhesive tape.

Such tape was originally commercially available in forms wherein thecoating of adhesive was on only one side of the backing, the other side,or back side, being nontacky. Forms of the tape are available however,wherein both sides of the backing or carrier sheet are coated, suchforms being frequently referred to as double-coated pressure-sensitiveadhesive tape.

Double-coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape has a variety of uses,one important use being to employ it as a substitute for a coating orlayer of ordinary glue, mucilage or paste where two articles are to beadhered to each other. Where two sheets of paper are to be adheredtogether in laminated form, for example, the double-coated tape may beemployed by placing a cut length or a plurality of cut lengths of thetape on a surface of one of the sheets and then bringing the surface ofthe second sheet into contact with the exposed surface of the tape inthe desired position. The tape, being normally tacky on both sides, willadhere to both of the sheets of paper and hold them permanentlytogether.

Tape is customarily put up for use by the consumer in rolls. In order toenable the present commercial forms of double-coated tape to be unwoundeasily, it is customary to insert a liner between the convolutions ofthe tape when the tape is being wound into rolls by the tapemanufacturer, the liner being a strip of sheet material of suchcharacter that it delaminates easily from the adhesive coated surfacesof the tape when the roll is unwound. The liner is necessarily of thesame length as the tape in any given roll, and is ordinarily of no useto the consumer after being removed from the tape roll. Thus, in usingdouble-coated tape, the disposal of the liner is a problem.

An automatic removal and disposal of the liner is of course preferableto manual. A dispenser for linerwound pressure-sensitive adhesive tapewith automatic liner removal and disposal is shown in the Hoover PatentNo. 2,325,400. The dispenser there shown however,

is of the type generally regarded as more suitable for work benches thanfor desks and counters.

For oflice, store and laboratory, a smaller more compact device ispreferred, to conserve space and also for improved appearance.

A further problem in connection with the marketing of double-coatedtape, is the coordination of its use with the standard single-coatedtape. A consumer does not wish appreciably to increase the amount ofdesk or counter space that he has already allocated to tape, and yetprior to the present invention, the addition to his desk supplies ofdouble-coated tape has necessitated a choice between making such anincrease, or dispensing the double-coated tape by hand.

Objectives accordingly include the provision of a compact dispensermeans for liner-wound pressure-sensitive adhesive tape capable of beingcoordinated with the ice,

means customarily employed for linerless single-coated tapes in a mannerto produce a single multi-roll dispenser wherein liner-wound andlinerless rolls can be simultaneously available to the consumer, suchmultiroll dispenser to be not much larger than the known dispensers oflinerless tape.

The present invention achieves these objectives by a mechanismexemplified by the two-roll dispenser hereinafter described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of the dispenser;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view on the line 2-2 shown inFigure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on the line 3 3 shownin Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an axial sectional view of a sleeve and shaft assembly onthe line 4-4 shown in Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a diagram showing how the coordination of the sizes andpositions of certain parts permit a free choice of use by the consumerbetween either of the two rolls throughout the life of either one of thetwo, regardless of how much or how little is removed from the other.

An elongate frame 10 in the nature of a box-like container, open at thetop and rear, contains and supports the mechanism and the other parts.

A horizontal serrated severing edge 11 is fixed to the upper front edgeof the frame 10.

Directly behind the severing edge, two supply-roll drums 12 and 13 ofequal diameters are mounted for individual rotation independently ofeach other on a horizontal shaft 14 which is fixed at either end in theside walls of the frame 10 at a point approximately midway between thefront and rear extremities of the frame and slightly above a pointmidway between the top and bottom of the frame, the shaft 14 extendingtransversely of the frame.

Directly behind the supply-roll drums 12 and 13, a liner take-up drum 16is positioned at the upper rear portion of the frame 10, freelyrotatable about an axis that is parallel to the axis of the drums 12 and13.

The total lateral extent of the two supply-roll drums 12 and 13 definesthe lateral extent of a path 17 (as indicated in Figure 2) that extendslongitudinally in respect to the frame. The length of the severing edge11 and the length of the liner take-up drum 16 each extend at leastacross the full width of the path 17.

A means for mounting the take-up drum 16 comprises a lirst horizontalshaft 20 supported at either end in the side walls of the frame 10 inthe lower rear portion of the frame, its axis parallel to the axis ofthe supplyroll drums 12 and 13 and to the axis of the liner takeanp drum16. A sleeve 21 is journaled on the shaft 20 with a cylindrical torsionspring 22 between the shaft and the sleeve. As shown in Fig. 4, thespring is fixed at one end to the shaft 20 and at its other end to thesleeve, and is loaded to impel the sleeve to rotate counterclockwise(Figure 3). The right end of the shaft 20 is slotted to receive a screwdriver (Figure l) whereby the shaft may be turned, to adjust the tensionof the spring, and then rendered fixed in relation to the frame 10 by asetscrew (not shown) that is accessible at th rear of the frame.

An upwardly extending arm 2S is fixed to the left end (Figure 2) of thesleeve 21. The arm 25 is positioned outside the lateral limits of thepath 17; in the illustrated embodiment, to the left thereof. A secondhorizontal shaft 26 is fixed to the upper end of the arm 25 and extendsto the right of the arm 25 (Figure 2) transversely of the frame abovethe lirst shaft 20 and parellel to the iirst shaft. The liner take-updrum 16 is journaled on the second shaft 26.

The spring 22 impels the arm 25 and with it the takeup drum 16 forwardlytoward the supply-roll drums 12 and 13.

The above described dispenser can be used (l) to dispense a single rollof linerless single-coated pressuresensitive adhesive tape, or,alternatively, (2) to dispense '.1 single roll of liner-wounddouble-coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, or alternatively, (3) todispense a roll of each of the said two kinds of tape.

When a single roll of linerless or unlined tape is being dispensed, thetape may be of any width up to and including the width of the path 17,i. e., the combined lateral extent of the supply-roll drums 12 and 13.If too wide to be supported by a single drum 12 or 13, it may extendover the adjoining drum so as to be supported by the two drums, inasmuchas the diameters of the two drums are equal. The liner take-up drum 16,impelled forwardly by the spring 22, bears against the periphery of thetape roll and idles there throughout the life of the roll.

When a single roll of liner-wound or lined tape is being dispensed, itswidth may vary as in the case of the single roll of linerless tape. Theliner take-up drum 16, impelled forwardly by the spring 22, bearsagainst the periphery of the tape roll and is rotated thereby as tape ismanually withdrawn from the supply roll, the liner being wound on thetake-up drum and thereby removed from between the convolutions of thesuppl;` roll as the latter unwinds.

When a roll 30 of liner-wound double-coated pressure-sensitive adhesivetape 31 and a roll 32 of linerless single-coated pressure-sensitiveadhesive tage 33 are simultaneously in the dispenser, the two rolls areseparately mounted on the two supply-roll drums, respectively, so thateach roll may turn independently of the other.

The roll 30 of liner-wound tape 31 may be on either supply-roll drum. Itis here shown as being at the left on the drum 12, with the roll 32 oflinerless tape at the right on the other drum 13. For right-handedusers, this is the preferred arrangement. As is brought out in Figure 1,the flight or length of withdrawn double-coated tape 31 that extendsfrom the supply roll 30 to the severing edge 11, is for the most partabove the level of the Hight of single-coated tape 33. This is largelydue to the fact that resistance to rotation of the roll 30 is increasedby the liner take-up, so that instead of leading off from the roll 30 ina generally radial direction (as does the tape 33 from the roll 32) thetape 31 leads olf from the roll 30 more nearly at a tangent.

After the roll 30 has been mounted, a length of the tape 31 and itsliner 34- is withdrawn. The tape and liner are then separated. The tape31 is led forwardly to the severing means 11 and anchored there byadhesion. The liner 34 is led rearwardly and started on the takeup drum16. The liner take-up drum 16, impelled forwardly by the spring 22,bears against the periphery of the tape roll 30 and is rotated therebyas the tape 31 is manually withdrawn from the supply roll 30 and pulledtoward the severing means in a dispensing operation. The said rotationor the drum 16 withdraws the liner 34 from the roll 3G and winds it upin a new roll 35.

After the first turn of the liner 34 is Wound on the take-up drum 16,thereby forming the rst convolution of the liner roll 35, it is theperipheral surface of the roll 35, and not the peripheral surface of thetake-up drum 16, that then bears against the peripheral surface of thetape roll 30 to provide the traction whereby rotation of the drum 12serves to turn the drum 16.

The liner 34 is customarily of approximately the same thickness, orless, than the tape 31. A roll of a given length of the liner alonewould be of a smaller diameter than a roll of the same length of thelaminated liner and the tape. As a result, the take-up drum 16, impelledforwardly by the spring 22 to maintain the required peripheral Contactbetween the rolls 30 and 35 throughout the lite of the roll 39, wouldnormally gradually move forward as tape is withdrawn from the roll 30.This however, would defeat the objective of permitting an operator touse as rnuch or as little of either of the rolls 30 or 32- as he ciooses, for were the consumption of the tape 33 to be less than of thetape 31 so that the diameter of the roll 32 decreased more slowly thanthe diameter of the roll 3i?, the drum 16 would then bear against theroll 32 and be thereby held back so that the peripheries of the rolls 35and 30 would lose contact; and such Contact is essential if the tape 31is to be kept available to the user at all times.

Accordingly, the take-up drum 16 is constructed so as to be of adiameter no greater than approximately one-half the diameter of thesupply-roll drum 12. This at least doubles the number of convolutions inthe liner roll 35 over the number of convolutions in the supply roll 30for any given length of liner. Where the liner 34 and the tape 31 are ofapproximately the same thickness, the diameter of the roll 35 increasesby approximately the same amount as the diameter of the roll 30decreases.

With the thickness of the core 36 of the roll 30 serving in the natureof a factor of safety, this results in a maintenance of the distancebetween the shafts 14 and 26 (and sometimes a slight increase)throughout the life of the roll 30 as lengths of the tape 31 arewithdrawn and dispensed from time to time. This is indicated in thediagram of Figure 5. At the start, the takeup drum 16 bears against theroll 3l). As tape is withdrawn, the tape roll 3i) decreases in size butthe increase in size of the liner roll 35 is sufficient to maintain theoriginal distance between the shafts 14 and 26 undiminished.

A dispenser is thus provided wherein both lined and unlined tape may bemade at all times available throughout the life of either one of the tworolls, even though it may happen that none at all is used from the otherroll.

For rolls of liner-wound tapes where the liner is thinner than the tape,the take-up drum 16 is replaced by a take-up drum of a still smallerdiameter so as to increase the number of convolutions in the liner roll35 and thereby provide a rate of increase in size of the liner rollsuicient to maintain the original distance between the shafts 14 and 26undiminished as tape is withdrawn.

The dispenser may be provided with more than the two supply-roll drums12 and 13 here shown, the additional drum or drums to carry linerlesstape.

Tapes other than the double-coated tape are sometimes put up inliner-wound rolls. Such tapes can of course be dispensed in the presentdispenser in the same manner as the roll 30 of double-coated tape 31here shown.

We claim;

l. A device for the simultaneous dispensing of one roll of liner-woundpressure-sensitive adhesive tape and at least one roll of linerlesspressure-sensitive adhesive tape, comprising an elongate frame; ahorizontal severing edge at the forward portion of the frame, thesevering edge extending across at least the full width of a path thatextends longitudinally in respect to the frame; at least two supply-rolldrums of equal diameter mounted in the central portion of the frame forfree individual rotation independently of each other about a commonhorizontal axis, the axis extending transversely of the frame, the totallateral extent of the supply-roll drums defining the lateral extent ot`the said path; a liner take-up drum positioned at the upper rear portionof the frame and freely rotatable about an axis that is parallel to theaxis of the supplyroll drums, the length of the take-up drum extendingacross at least the full width of the said path, the diameter of thetake-up drum being no greater than one-half the iaineter of thesupply-roll drums; and a mounting means for the take-up drum comprisinga first shaft fixed inA the lower rear portion of the frame parallel tothe axis of the supply-roll drums and t0 the axis of the take-up drum, asleeve journaled on the shaft, an upwardly extending arm xed to one endof the sleeve, spring means connected to the arm and loaded to impel thearm forwardly, and a second shaft fixed to the upper end of the arm andextending transversely of the frame above the first shaft and parallelto the first shaft, the take-up drum being journaled on the second shaftand the arm being positioned outside the lateral limits of the saidpath.

2. A device according to claim l wherein the spring means is acylindrical torsion spring around the shaft within the sleeve.

5 References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,325,400 Hoover July 27, 1943 2,352,445 Pinckney June 27, 1944 102,424,486 Miller July 22, 1947

